Apparatus for cleaning tobacco-pipes and the like.



'F.H.S.SHBPHERD. APPARATUS POR CLEANING TOBACCO PIPES'AND THE LIKE.

AYPLICATION FILED PEB.2, 1912.

Patent-,ed Feb.1l1,1913.

6 SHEETS-SHEET 1.

MAMMT /yf @i j?? P. H. S. SHEPHERD.

APPARATUS POR CLEANING ToBAcco MPBS AND THE LIKE.

APPLICATION FILED TER. 2. 1912.

Patented Feb. 11, 1913.

6 SHEETS-SHEBT 2.

F. H. S. SHEPHERD. l APPARATUS PoR CLEANING TOBACCO' PIPES AND THB LIKE.

APPLICATION FILED FEB.2, 1912.

Patented Feb. 11, 1913 6 SHEBTS-SHEET 3,

F. S. SHEPHERD. APPARATUS POB. CLEANING TOBAGO() lPElS AND .H. LLE.

APPLIATION PXLBD FEB. 2, X912. 1,052,759. Patemfed Feb. 11, 1913.

' HEETS-*SH'EET 4.

F. H. S. SHEPHERD.

APPARATUS FOR CLEANING TOBACCO PIPES AND THE LIKE.

APPLIOATION FILED rnB.z,1a12.

1,052,759. Patented 1191111913.

8 SHEET B-SHEET 5.

upv u U F. H. S. SHEPHERD.

APPARATUS FOR CLEANING TOBACCO PIPES AND THE LIKE. APPLICATION FILEDP13112, 1912.

l l l 1 1 Patented 1161111913.

STATES PATENT OFFICE.

FREDEBICKIHDSON SHEPHERD SHEPHERD, OF LONDON, ENGLAND, ASSIGNOR TOAUTOMATIC'PIPE CLEANER SYNDICATE LIMITED, 0F LONDON, ENGLAND.

-PPARATUS FOR CLEANING TOBACCO-PIPES AND THE LIKE.

Specification of Letters Patent.

Patented Feb. 11, 1913.

Application eld February 2, 1912. Serial No. 674,949.

To all whom it may concern.'

Be it known that I, Fai-:Demon HUnsoN SHEPHERD SHEPHERD, a subject ofthe King of Great Britain and Ireland, residing at 294 Goswell road,London, E. C., England, have invented certain new and usefulImiroveinents in Apparatus for Cleaning 'lobucco-Pipes and the Like, ofwhich the following is a specification.

This invention for improvements in aparatus for cleaning tobacco ipesand t e like, has for its object to rovi e a coin freed apparat-iis thatis ada )te to .scrape the bowl of the pipe, polish t e outside of the)ipe blow through the pipe air that has een nimped while the scraper andolisheizarc eing operated to blow through t ie pipe into a retiisereceptacle that receives the matter blown out of the pipe, and todeliver a piece of paper to wipe the mouthpiece.

According to this invention, the pipe cleaning machine is driven by asource 'of power which is set into operation b the 1nsei'tion of a coinin the coin free mechanism, which source of power also compresses theair used to clean the stem of the pipe and at the same time to opeiatethe mechanical scraper for cleaning the bowl of the pipe. An electricmotor is provided as a source of energy and is coup ed directly to acompressor or pump for supplying the compressed nir and directly orindirectly to the mechanical scraper. .ihe compressor is connected tothe air reservoir which is adapted to hold a suilieient quantity of airfor the operation of cleaning a pipe. This reservoir is provided with asafety blow off valve, and is connected to the nozzle to which the ipeis applied.' This nozzle may be mounted) over a push valve in such a waythat when the pipe bowl is pushed down in connection therewith the airis released 'and passed therethrough. The pipe is placed against thepush valve with its stem held between a pair of spring grips and ispressed against the push valve y elastic pads in a double lever providedwith a trigger lever that when operated opens a door opening into therefuse receptacle that is provided with a sponge and a deodorant. In amodification the air asses in the mouthpiece through the bow a suitableconstruction bein provided for this purpose.

T e scraper comprises a pair of expanding steel wings, and is mounted ona motor.

shaft or connected therewith in such a way that it rotates at a highspeed. It is provided with a guard wiich also serves as a uide, and aresistance to prevent the pipe Eein f put in too fast. In cleaning thepipe bow the pipe is placed over the scraper in such a way that the flatsteel win s rotate therein, and thus remove all charred matter.

The starting and stopping of the motor is etl'ectcd by means of acontact device comprising a pair of spring pressed ivoted levers bearingcontacts. One of t-iese levers is normally held hack against the actionof its spring by means of a catch which is adapted to be operated torelease the contact on the application of a coin to the coin freedmechanism. 'llie other Contact lever is made to bear upon a small camwhich is connected through a reducing gear to the motor shaft. Thus thereleasing of the one contact lever causes it to close the power circuitwith the other, and so start the motor. At the same time the rotation ofthe small cam pushes both contacts against the action of their springsuntil the one lever is caught up by the catch after which the caincompletes one revolution, and the other contact lever breaks thecircuit.. The shaft on which the small cam is mounted may also beutilized to operate a counting mechanism which is intended to check the`amount of money ut int-o the machine. This shaft. may also e connectedto a paper feeding mechanism which is ada ted to supply a certain amountof paper or the purpose of wipin the mouthpiece.

In a modi ied form ot' construction, the exposed working parts or gearai'e all ai'- ranged on the top of the machine, and are normally closedin by a suitable cover, which can be released on the implication of thecoin to the machine, and e replaced automatically after the operationhas been completed.

The accompanying sheets of illustrative drawings illustrate a practicalforni of this invention, Figures 1, Q and 3 being front elevation, endelevation and plan respectively of the machine. Figs. 4, 5 and (3 areelevation, plan, and end views respectively of the switch gear forstarting and stopping the motor. Figs. 7, 8 and 9 are two elevations anda section of the curved coin guide. Fig. l0 is a sectional elevationpipe cleaning nozzle and valve. F ig. 11 is a similar view of themechanical scraper. Figs. 12, 13 and 14 are two sectional elevations andsectional plan of the apparatus for catching and deodorizing the matterblown from the pi e. Fig. 15 is a sectional elevation showing t ie pa erfeedin mechanism.

ow accor ing to this invention the motor a is rigidly connected to thepump or compressor, and the set is mounted on a shock absorbiii base a.The air reservoir c is connecte to the compressor b by a suitable pi e cand is provided with a suitable blow-o va ve c2 to prevent excess ofpressure beyond any desired predetermined limit. irectly above thereservoir c the air' nozzle d is arranged and provided with a valve d'whereby the air ma be allowed to pass on applying a downwar pressurethereto. This va ve comprises a cylindrical head d1 in which a valveseat with a valve d normally pressed thereon from the inside by a sprinir d are provided. This head d is sur roun cd by a cap d* which canslide thereon, and is normally held up by the spring el, and is providedwith an internal cross bar gl by means of which the valve d can be oened by a downward movement of the cap d? The upper art of the ca d* isprovided with a conical rubber was ier d1 forming a nozzle, on whichpipe bowls of any size may be placed, and a small valve (la to normallyclose the passage against the entrance of dirt.

Above the air nozzle a horizontal lever e with a three clawed grip c isarranged to hold the pipe being cleaned by its bowl and force the samevertically down on the air nozzle. A spring clamp f slidably mounted ona swiveling rod f is also provided for firmly holding the mouthpiece andpreventing it from being blown out of place.

The bowl scraper g comprises a central steel plate g with a nose shapedor rounded end, and a pair of ex anding steel wings g mounted on avertical) shaft a. This shaft g is driven by a pair of bevelgwheels g,and a chain g from the motor shaft a. The bevel wheels are inclosed in acase g in order that the matter which is scraped from the pipe bowl manot reach the gear, but be conveyed down tie pipe g sui-rounding theshaft g to the receiving box g'. A cylindrical guard g is arrangedaround the scraper which can be pressed down by the pipe bowl againstthe action of a spring glo which normally holds up the guard around thescraper thus protecting the same.

The startin and stopping switch ear for the motor is siown in Iigs. 4, 5an 6, and comprises a pair of spring controlled pivoted levers h hbearing contacts h, h respectively. The lever h is provided with aprojection L adapted to bear against the snail cam h which is mounted ona shaft h connected by a reducing gear to the motor shaft a. The otherlever L is normally held back against the action of its spring by acatch k1, and the pawl on the short arm of an angle lever 1L". The otherarm of this lever h rojects under the lower end of the coin ui e in sucha way that a coin emerging tierefroin moves the lever, and thus rcleasesthe lever t and allows its contact h2 to fall against contact It, hencecompleting the circuit and starting the motor. The rotation of the camli.u pushes bot-h the levers It L back together until the lever h getscaught by the pawl on the lever h on the completion of a revolution ofthe cam It, after which the projection h* falls to the low part of thecam, thus causing the lever h to fly back to break the circuit and stopthe motor.

The coin guide z' illustrated in Figs. 7, 8 and 9 is of the usual typecomprising a ciiived metal sheet bent to hang obliquely with theunderside cut away for the lower )ortion of its length to leave flangesi at its sides to retain pennies, and to allow half pennies to fall outof the guide. This arrangement prevents tlie machine being operated byundersized coins. A box i2 is provided under the coin guide foi thepurpose of collecting the coins inserted into the machine.

The reducing gear by which the shaft h is driven from the motor shaft isseen in Figs. 1, 2 and 3, in which a worin a3 is shown on the motorshaft a2 driving a worm wheel a* on a countershaft a". This countershafta bears another worm a driving another worm wheel a7 on a shaft a. Onthis shaft al a Sprocket wheel a is mounted, and a chain a10 from thisdrives a similar sprocket wheel a.Il on the shaft U. By this means themotor is allowed ample time for running between the operations ofclosing and opening the circuit.

The pa er feeding mechanism is illustrated in ig. 15, and comprises aroller ji with flanged ends j mounted on the shaft L", and a roller jwhich is pressed against the roller j by springs j in the supportingbrackets j. Between these rollers the paper j is fed outward from theroller j". The paper emerges from between the lip j and the pivotedsnipping knife j", the attcr of which is closed down onto the former onthe completion of the feeding operation by the cam j on the shaft li".This snipping knife facilitates the tearing off of the paper, andprevent-s the delivery of more than the desired amount. The papersupplied in this way may bear suit-able advertisements. The shaft Italso carries a revolution counting mechanism which records the number ofoperations performed by the machine, and thus acts as a check to themoney received in the box i.

On the top of the machine a hood L is arranged for the purpose ofcatching the matter removed fromthe pipe in the blowing operation. Belowthis hood a tank k is arranged containing a deodorant.,in which anabsorbent pad lc is normally immersed. This is raised within the hood kduring the blowing operation by the action of the comressed air on thepiston lc in the cylinder which is connected to the' reservoir c. Theiston k' is connected by a rod k to the bar bearing the frame k", inwhich the pad k is arranged. This pad is raised during the 'air blowingoperation, and after catching the matter removed from the pipe is drawnback into the tank by the springs k'.

The electrical circuit is formed by the simple wiring of the electricmotor, in series2 with the contacts on the contact making device and theends of the circuit are connected to the terminals Z l.

Although I have shown and described my invention, in detail, I do notwish to be limited to the precise construction shown except for suchlimitations as the claims may import.

I claim 1. A pipe cleaning machine comprising in combination, a casingand means therein for supplying air under pressure, an air nozzle onsaid casing connected with said air supply means, said nozzle having apipe engaging discharge end and means whereby pressure on said nozzleserves to open the same to the discharge of air therethrough, mechanismfor clamping a smoking pipe on said nozzle with the pipe stem disposedin a given position, an absorbent pad, and mechanism operated by saidair supply means for projecting said pad into the path of discharge fromthe stem of said pipe, substantially as described.

2. A pipe cleaning machine comprising in combination, a casing and meanstherein for supplying air under pressure, an air nozzle on said casinconnected with said air supply means, said nozzle having a pipedischarge end and means whereby pressure on said nozzle serves to openthe same, mechanism for clamping a pipe on said nozzle with the pipestem in a given position, and absorbent means out of contact with thepipe but disposed in the path of discharge from the pipe stem,substantially as described.

3. A pipe cleaning machine comprising in combination, a casing, an aircompressor and air tank in said casing, a motor for driving saidcompressor, an air nozzle connected with said tank and adapted to beopened by downward pressure of a pipe thereon, a pipe scraping means onsaid casing, and driving connect-ionbetween said scraping means and saidmotor, substantially as described.

4. A pipe cleaning machine comprising in combination, a casing havingmeans for supplying air under pressure, a pipe nozzle communicating withsaid means and comprising a hollow head provided with a valve adapted tobe closed by the air pressure, a spring actuated cap slida-bly mountedon said head and having means for unseating said valve upon downwardmovement of the cap, a conical nozzle of yielding material disposed onsaid cap and adapted to tit the bowl of a pipe, and a gravity actingvalve normally closing said nozzle, substantially as described.

5. A pipe cleaning machine comprising in combination, a casing having aprime mover therein, a pipe cleaning device on said casing comprising arotary scraper having a shaft and gear connection with said prime mover,a casing surrounding said gear connection, a second casing surroundingsaid first casing and providing a discharge passage for the scrapings,and a spring pressed guard slidably connected with said outer casing andadapted to be pressed down by a pipe to permit of operative engagementof the pipe with the scraper, substantially as described.

In testimony whereof I have allixed my signature, in presence of twowitnesses.

FREDERICK HUDSON SHEPHERD SHEPHERD.

lVitnesses:

O. J. WORTH, C. P. LIDDON.

Copies ot this patent may be obtained for ave cents each, by addressingthe Commissioner of Patents, Washington, D. 0."

